The applicants for this Patent Application have disclosed, in their prior Italian Patent Application 3577 A/87 filed on July 29, 1987 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,440), a method for the production of boxes or cases of the so-called hinged-lid type which can be closed over a collar with a guarantee seal for the packaging of products in general and in particular foodstuffs, domestic products such as detergent powders, pharmaceuticals and the like starting essentially from individual flat blanks with notches, fold lines and separation lines defining the panels and flaps for the production of the box body and the lid body for the closure of these cases or boxes with guarantee seals so as to be able to carry out this method automatically by means of a particularly simple machine with a high unit production time and of relatively economic cost with respect to conventionally known machines.
Flat blanks in the form of a single member or piece for packaging bottles, cans and the like are already known for the production of multiple-compartment cartons in which, during the packaging or production of these multiple-compartment cartons from these individual blanks, a portion is separated from a part of the blank designed to form the box body or outer container, this portion being designed to form an inner dividing member for the box body with the sole aim of reinforcing the lateral walls of these cartons against the outward swelling which takes place in response to the thrust exerted by the products already packaged therein particularly during the stages of movement for loading and unloading during transportation and for the use of the products (see for instance the U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,854,181, 3,106,876, 3,153,453, 3,135,454, 3,185,047 and 3,185,048).
In the field of packaging or wrapping of tobacco products such as cigarettes and the like it is also known to use cases or boxes of the hinged-lid type which can be closed over an inner member shaped as a collar which are known as cigarette hard packs.
These inner collar members are produced by the same packaging machine and are obtained from a spool of cardboard strip by cutting operations and transfer to the packet or box production line of the packaging machine, preparing them for use in combination with the blank forming the box body along the production line for the box itself (see for instance U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,972,271 and 3,967,543). In practice a line of this type for the production of this type of packet or box with a collar is very complex and consequently costly and is therefore economically expensive both as regards the production of these packaging machines, particularly for cigarettes, and as regards their maintenance and is not therefore advantageous for the production of boxes or packets designed to package products other than cigarettes, for instance the products listed above by way of example.
Following on from the prior art discussed above, the method disclosed in the above-mentioned Italian Patent Application 3577 A/87 filed on July 29, 1987 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,440) by the applicants and entitled "Method for the production of packaging cases and packaging cases obtained by this method" which starts from individual flat blanks provided with notches, fold lines and separation lines defining the panels and flaps for the production of the box body and the lid body for the closure of the boxes or cases with guarantee seals is essentially characterized in that it comprises a sequence of stages comprising the individual supply of these flat blanks with multiple component parts, the separation of a portion from these individual flat blanks being supplied in sequence along the relative separation line and the application of this portion to the individual flat blanks in order to form the corresponding collar of the box being produced, the folding about the respective fold lines of these flat blanks and the gluing of the respective flap so that they can be formed with a tubular shape in order to contain the product(s) to be packaged and the folding of the flaps for the production and closure of the opposite ends or heads and their gluing to provide boxes of the type with a collar and a guarantee seal closure for the products contained therein at the respective separation line.
Further characteristics of the above method lie in that a stage of relative movement between the flat blank and the corresponding collar portion is provided before they are joined and in that this relative movement between the flat blank and the corresponding collar portion takes place in the respective plane of one and/or the other and in one and/or the other of two directions perpendicular to one another.
Among other things, one of the objects of the method disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Application 3577 A/87 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,440) is that, as disclosed in the text of the description attached to this prior application, of allowing the method according to the above objects to be implemented automatically by means of a particularly simple intermittently or continuously moving machine with a high unit production time whose cost is relatively economic in comparison with the results that can be achieved therewith.